Zimbabwe end Day 1 of the one-off Test on top, finishing on 136/1 in reply to Bangladesh’s 136 in Harare. Bangladesh were cruising at 113/2, looking set to get a big total on the board, but once Mominul Haque (60) fell, they did not last long. Bangladesh lost their last eight wickets for just 27 runs, handing over the advantage completely to Zimbabwe.
In reply, Zimbabwe have done extremely well, and are now just four runs behind Bangladesh with nine wickets in hand.
Openers Innocent Kaia (76) and Ben Curran (42) set the tone with a solid 89-run opening partnership. After that, Brendan Taylor (17) did well to negotiate the rest of the day with Kaia.
As far as Bangladesh are concerned, only Shadman Islam (20) and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (19) managed to get into double figures, other than Mominul.
Left-arm pacer Newman Nyamhuri led the charge for Zimbabwe with 4/61. Richard Ngrava, who is taking charge of the Test side for the first time chipped in with a couple of scalps, as did Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans.
Zimbabwe will hope to establish a big lead on Day 2 and completely bat Bangladesh out of the Test. However, for Bangladesh, they will hope to put up a much better show with the ball tomorrow, after picking up just one wicket in 34 overs on Day 1.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 140 (Mominul Haque 60, Shadman Islam 20; Newman Nyamhuri 4/61) lead Zimbabwe 136/1 (Innocent Kaia 76*, Ben Curran 42; Khaled Ahmed 1/33) by 4 runs
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